Yarns containing staple fiber and to the manufacture thereof



April 12, 1938. c T c 2,113,955

YARN CONTAINING STAPLE FIBER AND TO THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF Filed July 15, 1934 GEORGE C- TYCE INVENTOK wrm Patented Apr. 12, 1938 UNITED STATES YARNS CONTAINING STAPLE FIBER AND TO THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF George Crawford Tyce, Belper, England, assignor to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application July 13, 1934, Serial No. 734,876

I In Great Britain July 14, 1933 c claims. (en. 28-1) This invention relates to spun yarns, that is, yarns containing staple fibers of natural or artificial materials.

Spun yarns may either be produced from natural staple fibers such as wool or cotton or from continuous filaments such as natural or artificial silk. Where continuous filaments are employed these are converted into staple fibers, for example by the cutting action of severing rollers, as described in U. S. Patent No. 1,959,142. The fibrous material produced may be treated as a roving, being spun into the yarn in a subsequent operation, or, alternatively, it may be twisted continuously into the final yarn, e. g. by means of ring or cap-spinning devices.

Spun yarns whether produced from natural or artificial materials, and in the latter'case whether produced directly from continuous fila-V on the surface of the yarn is caused to protrude 3o stifily from theyarn at right angles thereto under the influence of electric charges generated on the yarn, and the disadvantage of beard is thus rendered particularly noticeable. Furthermore, yarns of cellulose acetate or other cellulose derivatives cannot easily be submitted to a gassing operation such as is commonly employed with cotton yarns to singe off the beard", since the substance of the fibers of which the yarn is composed tends to fuse before burning, and the gassing, instead of forming a very small amount of light ash on the surface of the yarn, tends to convertv the beard" into small hard beads of molten material.

Another disadvantage of excessive "beard is still further out of the yarn, or out of fabrics containing such yarns, whereby the yarn is weakened and the free fibers form an undesirable fiufi. It is an object of the present invention to devise a method .of disposing of the beard" on spun yarns, which method shall be applicable to spun yarns generally, including yarns containing organic derivatives of cellulose.

According to the present invention a spun yarn r, is treated with an adhesive material adapted to that the protruding fibers are apt to be drawn.

cause the "beard" to lie flat along the length of the yarn and to adhere more or less firmly to the body of the yarn. By means of an adhesive, the shaggy appearance of the spun yarn is overcome, the loose bearded ends being neatly disposed of, and yarns of uniformly smooth appearance are produced.

A satisfactory form of adhesive is a liquid material which is a solvent or softening agent for the substance of the yarns. Any convenient solvent may be employed. Thus, for example, with yarns of cellulosic material such as viscose or cuprammonium.yarns, Schweitzers reagent, or a solution of zinc chloride may be employed. In the case of yarns of cellulose acetate or other organic derivatives of cellulose many liquid solvents are available, e. g. acetone, mixtures of ethyl and methyl alcohol, diacetone alcohol, triacetin, ethyl lactate and dioxane. Such solvents are preferably employed in association with a suitable diluent to modify the severity of their action upon the substance of the yarn and to prevent any action approaching actual solution of the material. Thus, for example, a mixture of acetone and water may be employed, convenient proportions for such a mixture being 50% acetone to 50% water by volume. If the period of treatment is shortened, however, a stronger solution of acetone may be employed. On the other hand, where it is desirable to' employ a weaker solution of acetone the temperature of the liquid may be raised and/or the time of treatment lengthened. After treatment with .nectlon with yarns of cellulosic material, such as artificial yarns of regenerated cellulose staple fibres, it is of particular advantage in connection with yarns of organic derivatives oi cellulose, examples of which are the celluloseesters, e. g. cellulose acetate, cellulose formate, cellulose .propionate and cellulose butyrate, and the cellulose ethers such as ethyl or benzyl cellulose.

Another convenient form of adhesive material which is suitable for the purpose of the present invention and which is applicable to spun yarns generally ofwhatever material, is awax, natural or artificial, or a mixture of waxes. The wax may be applied either in the solid or in the molten form or at any intermediate consistency. Thus, the yarn may be caused to run over and in contact with a block of the wax to be applied. or over a wick supplied with molten wax. Or again, the wax may be applied in solution in a solvent which is preferably inert not only to the wax employed, but also to the substance of the yarn. The wax acts as an adhesive and causes the beard to lie back along the length of the yarn and to remain set in that position.

Adhesive materials as described above may be applied at any suitable stage in the manufacture or use of the staple fiber yarns, for example, continuously with the direct conversion of continuous filaments into a staple fiber yarn.

By way of example, the manner of carrying out the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation ofa form of apparatus for carrying out the invention, and Figure 2 shows an alternative detail of Figure 1.

In Figure 1, a spun yarn 3 is drawn'from a bobbin 4 and led through a guide 5 disposed above and in line with the axis of the bobbin 4. The yarn 3 is drawn over a wick 6 which is fed from a reservoir 1 with a liquid which is a solvent or softening agent for the substance of the yarn 3. As will be seen, on the left of the wick 6 the yarn 3 exhibits board consisting of fibers protruding from the yarn and indicated diagrammatically at 8. The liquid applied by the wick 6, however, moistens the beard, causing it to lie fiat along the length of the yarn, and, being a solvent or softening agent for the substance of the yarn, renders the beard adhesive and causes it to stick to the body of the yarn, so as to give the smooth product indicated on the right of the wick 6.

After leaving the wick 6, the yarn 3 is passed under a guide rod 9 in a washing bath Hi by means of which the solvent material applied by the wick is washed out. On leaving the bath II], the yarn passes first through the stationary guide H, and then through the traversing guide l2, mounted on the traversing bar l3 of a winding device. The traversing guide i2 traverses the yarn from end to end of the bobbin M which is rotated by means of a driving roller l5, contacting with the surface of the yarn on the package ll, so as to draw the yarn at a constant speed.

As an alternative to the wick 6 and the reservoir I, a roller l6 as shown in Figure 2 may be provided, dipping into a bath l'l containing a solvent or softening agent for the substance of the yarn 3. The roller l6 picks up the solvent or softening agent, and transfers it to the yarn. Instead of a solvent'or softening agent, other adhesive materials may be employed, for example,

a wax or wax mixture. Thus, paraffin wax, beeswax, carnauba wax, stearic acid, ceresin or mixtures of such bodies may be employed, or a mixture of hardened whale oil and 40% ground nut oil. These waxes may be dissolved in suitable solvents such as benzole or kerosene or lighter petroleum fractions, e. g. a petroleum fraction boiling between C. and C., or again, the waxes may be applied in a molten form. Where wax, either molten or in solution, is employed, the guide rod 9 and bath l0 illustrated in Figure 1 may be dispensed with, since the waxes are inert to the substance of the yarn 3 and will not exert any harmful effect thereon by prolonged contact.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. A method of treating yarn containing staple fibers, which comprises softening any beard on the yarn by applying to the yarn a liquid which has a softening action upon the substance thereof, and causing the beard to adhere to the body of the yarn.

2. A method of treating yarn containing staple fibers of an organic derivative of cellulose, which comprises softening any beard on the yarn by applying to the yarn a liquid which has. a softening action upon said derivative of cellulose, and causing the beard to adhere to the body of the yarn.

3. A method of treating yarn containing staple fibers of cellulose acetate, which comprises softening any beard on the yarn by applying to the yarn a liquid which has a softening action upon said cellulose acetate, and causing the beard to adhere to the body of the yarn.

4. A method of treating yarn containing staple fibers of cellulose acetate, which comprises softening any beard on the yarn by applying to the yarn a mixture of acetone and water, and causing the heard to adhere to the body of the yarn.

5. A method of treating yarn containing staple fibers, which comprises softening any beard on the yarn by applying to the yarn a liquid which has a softening action upon the substance thereof, causing the beard to adhere to the body of the yarn and subsequently removing the liquid from the yarnby washing.

6. A method of treating yarn containing staple I fibers, which comprises softening any beard on the yarn by applying to the yarn a liquid which has a softening action upon the substance thereof, causing said beard to lie flat along the length of the yarn and to adhere to the body of the yarn, subsequently removing the liquid from the yarn by washing, and then drying the yarn.

GEORGE CRAWFORD TYCE. 

